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AK-wielding geckos levitate in from the Tower of Doom

We're all too busy smirting to stop them

We ran an analysis of the AK47, comparing it to open source software and exploring why it became so ubiquitous. It triggered (pun intended) a lively debate over the weapon, although this might be expected amongst male specimens on the internet. A selection follows:

One slight error in your anology, 5-95 yr olds could pick up an AK and get it working in seconds. Can the same be said of Linux?

Oh God, what have I said....

And cue Fanboys......

Stu Reeves


It's a pity the article doesn't mention the sad tale of the British EM-2--sometimes referred to as "the best rifle that never was". This used a 7mm cartridge of intermediate power that offered the same advantages as the SturmGewehr and the AK* series, and in a nice convenient bullpup package, something that may have a passing resemblance to the modern-day SA80 but which was actually a really nice rifle by all accounts.

Of course the boneheaded American generals insisted that nothing less powerful than the good ole 30-06 would do, and besides the 7mm is Not Invented Here, we can't possibly consider some design by inferior foreigners. And so the 7.62 NATO was forced through in spite of offering no improvement to anybody. Due to the UK's now familiar lack of political backbone the EM-2 and the almost as good Taden machine gun were thrown on the scrapheap and the British Army instead adopted the FN FAL and MAG respectively, the irony being that the Belgian rifle was itself originally designed for the British round.

The capricious American generals were quick enough to desert the useless round that they'd lumbered the rest of NATO with for the almost equally useless 5.56mm, and the rest as they say is history. Of course now they're finally thinking "maybe a 7mm round might do the trick" 50 years after someone else thought of it first.

Anon


Heres a different analogy, without the open source slant.

In kind of the same way as MS made it big, and importantly - the norm - by striking a deal to package MSDOS and early Windows with IBM PCs. The AK made it the norm by being easily available, freely reproduced, cheap to buy, and so the standard weaponry for armies to buy.

Nobody ever got fired at a workplace for buying IBM.

Nobody ever got executed at an army base for buying Kalashnikov.

I found it interesting to note that given its crap accuracy, the AK was used to great effect in the Jungles of Vietnam by the Viet Cong or NVA by digging in deep and waiting till they could see the whites of the GIs eyes before opening fire. Oh and the 7.62 rounds went straight through tree trunks and were fired by untrained monkeys (not literally).

Given a modern day conflict in Vietnam, if one were to come about, that the situation would probably be the same! Even modern day Apache Helecopters would be rendered useless, kind of like how they were pretty useless in Afghanistan.

Stu


The author seems to say that the adoption of lower caliber AK74 was an acknowledgement of inferiority of the Soviet weapons design. This is definitely not true. The trend to lower the caliber and power of the ammunition was driven by combination of practicality (lower power makes the weapon easier to operate) and increased lethality (lightweight bullets tumbled on impact causing much more damage to the target). The design remained virually unchanged - just scaled down.

Today both in Russia and in the West there is a reverse trend - to go back to higher power ammunition, because the increased use of body armour makes the lightweight bullets ineffective - they don't get a chance to tumble as they spend their energy on penetrating the armour. But again the design remains the same.

And the key thing is that the design of AK is excellent and balanced - it is easy to operate, reliable, accurate enough and easy to manufacture. There are some things (bugs you might say) you just have to learn in the beginning (such as that recoil will raise the muzzle, so you better aim lower than higher if you shoot on automatic) and then it becomes the second nature.

Vladimir Plouzhnikov


While I'd agree the AK is the grandfather of open-source weapons, the AR-15 platform is probably a lot more like Linux these days. Since the patent expired, hundreds of small-arms developers have popped up to create thousands of variations and accessories. And, like Linux, the user can pick and choose which bits they want, and build a unique rifle (or even pistol version) from the ground up.

illspirit

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